The Colorado Minimum Wages of Workers Act (“Act”) and Colorado Minimum Wage Order No. 32 (“Order 32”), establish state overtime requirements for Colorado workers. The Director of the
Division of Labor of the Colorado Department of Labor has responsibility for ensuring overtime compliance. The Director has the authority, and in some cases, the duty to investigate potential violations of the Act or Order 32.
The Act and Order 32 provide more overtime protection to Colorado employees than afforded under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). For example, Colorado employees must receive overtime after any 12 consecutive hours of work, even if such work spans two days. Colorado overtime law, however, exempts ski industry employees from its 40-hour-a-week overtime requirement. Instead, the state overtime law requires payment of overtime to these workers after they work 12 hours per day.
As of January 1, 2024, the minimum wage in Colorado for non-tipped employees is $14.42 per hour for jobs that don’t receive tips and $11.40 for those that do. On January 1, 2025, the minimum wage is set to increase to $14.81 per hour for non-tipped employees and $11.79 for tipped employees. The state constitution requires annual minimum wage increases based on inflation, but local municipalities are allowed to set a higher rate if they desire.
Colorado requires daily overtime if an employee works over 12 hours in a single day. Overtime is paid at 1.5 times the regular rate for hours worked beyond 12 hours in a day. The weekly threshold for overtime remains at 40 hours.
In Colorado, the statute of limitations for unpaid over claimsis 2 years under the Colorado Minimum Wage Act. Similar to federal law, if the violation is found to be willful, meaning the employer acted with knowledge that the pay was owed or recklessly disregarded the law, the statute of limitations can be extended to 3 years.
Arizona employees are typically entitled to the damages afforded to them under federal law, including payment of unpaid overtime, liquidated (double) damages, and attorneys’ fees.
Class action lawsuits are regularly being litigated under Colorado overtime law under the Minimum Wage Act and Order 32. These are often brought in tandem with Fair Labor Standards Act collective action claims. These suits involving both class and collective action claims are commonly referred to as “hybrid” overtime lawsuits.
Our unpaid overtime attorneys based in Dallas, Texas have national unpaid overtime litigation experience in federal courts throughout the United States. Mr. Siegel has personally represented clients in wage and hour suits in at least 20 states, including Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.